Rabun Gap Dancers present ‘Nutcracker’ at Rearden Theater

“The Nutcracker,” Peter Tchaikovsky’s famous and beloved ballet, is being presented again this year by Betsy’s School of Dance and the Rabun Gap Dancers.

Performances are set for 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 3 and 4, at the Rearden Theater on the campus of Rabun Gap Nacoochee School in Rabun Gap, Ga., followed by a matinee performance at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 5.

A Christmas-time tradition for many, “The Nutcracker” is a two-act ballet set in Western Europe in the 1800s and tells the story of a young girl who receives a special Nutcracker during a Christmas Eve party at her family’s home. She later dreams of a Nutcracker Prince and a battle against the Mouse King. The Prince then takes her on a journey through the Land of Snow on their way to the Land of Sweets, where she is greeted by the Sugar Plum Fairy.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for children 12 and younger, and can be purchased at the door or in advance at the Franklin Chamber of Commerce or at Betsy’s School of Dance in Franklin, and at the Clayton Chamber of Commerce in Clayton, Ga. For more information call 828.369.7209.

The Naturalist's Corner

This year will mark the 117th annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC.) The CBC is the longest-lived and largest citizen-science project in the world.

The count began in 1900. It was the brainchild of Frank Chapman, one of the officers of the fledgling Audubon Society. Chapman created the “bird census” as an alternative to the traditional Christmas “side-hunt,” a contest where groups would shoulder their arms and hit the fields and/or woods — the team that came back with the greatest number of corpses would be declared the winner.